"End of Extended Benefits May Lower U.S. Jobless Rate"

The declining U.S. jobless rate may
soon get another push downward as Americans lose extended
unemployment benefits.

From April 7 through May 12, about 370,000 Americans in 23
states stopped getting the benefits, which provide payments for
as long as 99 weeks, according to estimates from the National
Employment Law Project. People in the remaining six states and
the District of Columbia who still qualify may lose eligibility
by September, bringing the program to an end, the report showed.

Some recipients who lose their benefits may decide to
accept jobs they view as less than ideal. Others may give up
looking for work and drop out of the labor force, eliminating
them from the ranks of the jobless. Those outcomes may trim the
unemployment rate by 0.1 percentage point to 0.2 point in the
next few months, according to economists Dean Maki at Barclays
and Michael Feroli at JPMorgan Chase & Co....MORE